Monday, September 24, 2012

Welcome One and All

You've seen me express my deep concerns before on the continued and irresponsible 'dumping' of refugees, asylum-seekers, criminals on probation and vulnerable children, here in Thanet but this week, even one of our more senior police officers has broken ranks and publicly stated what others have confirmed to me in private.

According to the This Is Kent, "An influx of criminals and looked-after children to Margate and Cliftonville is fuelling crime and deprivation" and Inspector Mark Pearson has revealed: "We have got the highest concentration of prisoner releases and most are from outside the area, attracted by the cheap private accommodation."

Inspector Pearson adds: "One third of all prisoner releases [in Kent] come to Thanet and half of those are in Margate Central and Cliftonville West.
"We are also looking at overseas offenders who have criminal records that settle in the area."

A further pressing issue is the proximity of dangerous criminals to vulnerable children in Cliftonville's care homes and in particular one street which I can't mention here. Kent County Council revealed last week after being pressed by the BBC, that more than twenty Thanet homes housed exclusively young people from outside Kent.

There is no mention of sex-offenders on the register but my information is that Thanet has the highest density in the County and once again these are focused on the key problem wards in the District with the Police previously declining to share the numbers involved after I lodged a Freedom of Information request several years ago.

So just for once, I would like to hear rather less about 'Diversity' and 'Homophobia' as local council priorities from the Labour administration and rather more about measures to deal with a problem that is seemingly beyond any sensible notion of public control, if the Police are now prepared to go public with their concerns.

9 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Why lump refugees and criminals together? Contrary to popular belief they don't go hand in hand, and implying otherwise is just scaremongering (you could just as easily lump homosexuals and criminals together!).

As a landlord of private rented accomodation and a resident in Cliftonville West I have to agree with you Simon,its terrible here, I have been burgled 5 times in 3 years, I have now bricked up my back door and kitchen window and fitted steel grilles over my other door and a big steel gate on my garden, and am about to put steel palisade fencing around the back garden. Cameras and lights just get destroyed.

We do have criminal immigrants here, my last burglars were neighbours from Slovakia.They are now in jail but not for my burglary but for many others in the area.The Police are pretty useless, and I have never had any feedback from them about crimes committed against my properties.Its very depressing and I do not know what the answer is.I can't blame TDC current rulers as it was as bad when the Conservatives were in power.What we need is an effective Police FORCE not a hopeless Police Service.Its like the Wild West here in Harold Rd area, street fights, scumbags everywhere,seriously scary.

It is a longstanding problem for Thanet. going back to Cllr Dr Charles McAvoy rightly warning about the area having too much change of use to Care Homes.

in about 1975 Panorama did a programme featuring the ill treated Edwin Baars. Mr Baars, in fact, had arrived homeless in Thanet. Having been discharged from a mental hospital in another county and given a single rail ticket to Margate and a hospital social worker letter. the last line of that letter read "This man is truly in need of sympathetic help and guidance". The social worker apparently stronger on meaningless sentiment than actual care.

Mr Baars found his way into a Thanet Care home (Section 37 National Assistance Act 1948 boarding fees paid by benefits) and featured in Panorama wandering along Margate beach with other inmates apparently cast out of their care home during the day to be left to their own devices.

Accused of being Panorama source for a while I was threatened, by Civil Service Commission, with prosecution under Official Secrets Act.

I suppose the idea of the State arguing that it had a right to keep secret how it was discharging mental patients to homelessness in seaside resorts may have influenced the Civil Service into backing off.

On the other hand the BBC backed off from Cllr Mortlock, Leadbeater Homes, and settled out of court. Money I think she gave to Westgate day centre.

Then as now Thanet is not supported by the State to pick up the care burden cast upon it by other areas.

The issue is how much can one area bear. But the agenda of TDC diversity is to skew public interest issues to label them as discrimination or prejudice.